Anyone want to try to enable me on a smaller iPad (or other smaller tablet for that matter)? I'm just not sold on the smaller form factor. I don't travel much, and 10" just feels right to me for surfing, playing games, reading comics, etc. When I do bring it out of the house it's way more portable than my notebook, and I'd still need a bag for a 7" tablet. I just don't know...

I just sold my iPad 1 though, so as soon as Apple.com comes back up, I'll probably buy a refurb iPad 3 or the mini if it surprises me.

"I never should have taken purchasing advice from Gary Busey.
What the hell was I thinking?" - Paleocon

Barring a $350 entry point, I'll be helping my father-in-law buy one for his wife for Christmas. Size-wise, it will should be more purse-friendly, and since my wife and I use a pair at our house, troubleshooting for her won't fall primarily on me.

Also, consider a $300 cost for an Apple-branded tablet. Truth be told, I'm more worried about Nintendo's upcoming console launch, and I think the mini will sell like hotcakes.

"You're right, I should never argue The IT Crowd with you. You can be Moss, and I'll be Roy." - Bonus_Eruptus | trueheart78.com | Pile.Ninja: trueheart78

I was hoping for $299, but after the new iPod touch was priced at that, there's no way a mini will cost the same or less. Apple will position this device as the premium smaller tablet on the market for no less than $329.

"I never should have taken purchasing advice from Gary Busey.
What the hell was I thinking?" - Paleocon

I have an iPad 3, an iPhone 5 and a Google Nexus 7. I'll be skipping the iPad mini!

The Nexus is a great little device, and lets me play around with Android for the first time, but the 7” form factor has precisely 1 advantage over the full sized tablets, as far as I am concerned, and that is reading books. I don't like e-ink devices (purely a matter of personal preference that I won't even try to justify) so having a nice light device with a good quality backlit screen is great for me.

I am one of those few people who would say that the iPad has been a laptop replacement for me; I still have a workhorse desktop, but barely use my laptop at all. I can't even be bothered to replace the keys that my 2 year old peeled off it and lost

A 7” device could never be a replacement for a full-sized tablet, though. I am past the "new toy" stage with my N7, and realised pretty early on that I would not be leaving my iPad at home because the N7 was in my pocket. It isn't anything other than the size. It isn't a good size to type on, browse on (that may be my ageing eyes, but this all subjective), write on or draw on, compared to the iPad.

Given that all of these factors are due to form factor rather than OS, I don't see that I would ever spend the extra on an iPad mini. I agree that there is a certain percentage of people who will but it just because it is Apple and it is new, but I see the bigger market being younger people who want a decent sized consumption device rather than a productivity device.

Leave it to Apple to take an Intel Z67/Z77 chipset technology (Smart Response) that's been out for months, slap a name on it like "Fusion Drive", and act like it's something they created. And Samsung's had those dual SSD/HD 2.5" drives out for awhile as well that are kind of a predecessor tech.

Leave it to Apple to take an Intel Z67/Z77 chipset technology (Smart Response) that's been out for months, slap a name on it like "Fusion Drive", and act like it's something they created. And Samsung's had those dual SSD/HD 2.5" drives out for awhile as well that are kind of a predecessor tech.

It's actually kind of painful to watch them talk about tech that is old now.. the iPad mini isnt some miracle of engineering.. news flash.. its been done already guys.

Aint nothing new about the world order..it's been playing since the day they put George Washington on a quarterDelivering Truth while the 10% deliver lies.

Any minute now Jayhawker will chime in about how none of the tech journalists are commenting about the timing of the Apple announcements and their proximity to the release of Win8, Surface and WinPhone8...

I was hoping for $299, but after the new iPod touch was priced at that, there's no way a mini will cost the same or less. Apple will position this device as the premium smaller tablet on the market for no less than $329.

Leave it to Apple to take an Intel Z67/Z77 chipset technology (Smart Response) that's been out for months, slap a name on it like "Fusion Drive", and act like it's something they created. And Samsung's had those dual SSD/HD 2.5" drives out for awhile as well that are kind of a predecessor tech.

They did leave it to Apple. They always leave it to Apple... again and again and again. And then Apple eats everyone's lunch and their stock will probably hit $1,000 before long. They may seem like they're dumbing it down to us techie folks by giving things fancy names, but they make it dirt simple for muggles to understand.

On another note, I'm watching the live stream on my iPhone and frankly... I'm bored. These guys seem like they're phoning it in. In fact, if Apple TV is a real thing that Jobs was working on, after that releases there may in fact be a dearth of innovation at Apple for a long time. What do they do after they can't make their stuff thinner, lighter, faster, or more colorful?

"I never should have taken purchasing advice from Gary Busey.
What the hell was I thinking?" - Paleocon

On another note, I'm watching the live stream on my iPhone and frankly... I'm bored. These guys seem like they're phoning it in. In fact, if Apple TV is a real thing that Jobs was working on, after that releases there may in fact be a dearth of innovation at Apple for a long time. What do they do after they can't make their stuff thinner, lighter, faster, or more colorful?

I'm frankly dismayed that Microsoft and their Partners CAN't compete.. look at the AIO iMac.. it in theory couldnt do all the cool things you could do on a Windows 8 AIO.. but MS botches it.. CableCard and Windows 8 should be a huge selling point.. I would advertise how you can literally save $100 a month by ditching your cable co DVR's and HD boxes.. but MS doesnt develop it all the way and really tie in what you can do with a connected home.. The Xbox 360, Windows 8, and Cable Card would BLOW anything Apple has on the market right now.. but they Just CANT execute.

Aint nothing new about the world order..it's been playing since the day they put George Washington on a quarterDelivering Truth while the 10% deliver lies.

iPad 2's still rocking the $399 tag, so my big recommendation is: go find someplace that still has the iPad 3 classic edition™ and see how low they're selling them for. Still fantastic devices, and if you can get it for anything lower, go for it. I'm struggling to find a reason why they are keeping the 2 around, though...

"You're right, I should never argue The IT Crowd with you. You can be Moss, and I'll be Roy." - Bonus_Eruptus | trueheart78.com | Pile.Ninja: trueheart78

iPad 2's still rocking the $399 tag, so my big recommendation is: go find someplace that still has the iPad 3 classic edition™ and see how low they're selling them for. Still fantastic devices, and if you can get it for anything lower, go for it. I'm struggling to find a reason why they are keeping the 2 around, though...

So this is a straight-out replacement of the current generation. That's weird, but somewhat explains why they didn't slap a number on the current iPad generation back in March. You're probably right that this generation wasn't fully baked and they needed more time to get it right.

iPad 2's still rocking the $399 tag, so my big recommendation is: go find someplace that still has the iPad 3 classic edition™ and see how low they're selling them for. Still fantastic devices, and if you can get it for anything lower, go for it. I'm struggling to find a reason why they are keeping the 2 around, though...

I think it's so they can hit the $399 price point. The hardware in the 3 is still to expensive to drop the price down that far. If the prices were not so high I'd probably be more interested in a mini. I, personally, like the 7" size of my Kindle Fire HD. Much easier to carry around and better for the kids. At $199 I don't worry too much that the kids will break it. A $500 device is not something I really like the kids playing with (technically, I don't like them carrying it but don't mind them playing with it). A $329 device is still expensive for the kids. The 7.9" form factor is nice, though. I find the KFHD a little small for typing in evernote. Neither is a DTR for me since there is not true multitasking and nowhere near enough ram for photo work. As a content device, though, the smaller form factor is great.